Happy New Year
by Starving For Attention
Summary: “Happy New Year, indeed.” TonyxZiva, and a bit of McGeexAbby thrown in.


**This takes place in mid-season four. Let's pretend Jeanne doesn't exist, mkay?**

**Disclaimer- I do not own, and never will own, NCIS or any of its characters. I just like to manipulate them into my own plotlines. And I promise you, I am not making any profit from this story. If I was, would I really be posting it online?**

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"You ready for the new year, Ziva?"

Tony DiNozzo grinned coolly at his partner as he struggled with the cork of a champagne bottle. McGee eyed him warily and inched away with a sidelong glance at Abby, who couldn't have looked more excited. Ziva crossed her arms.

"I do not see why there is such a… a _frenzy_ around New Years Eve. It is really just like any other day."

Abby's eyes widened at Ziva's nonchalance. "Ziva, New Years Eve is celebrated around the _world_! Although, China has a different New Year than us, which I don't understand. I mean, really, why can't we all just go by the same clock? The seasons are the same around the world, the world's clock is the same… well, except the time zones, but that doesn't count. I know the seasons can't be a little hotter or colder or nonexistent in some places, but I don't get why we just can't enjoy New Years together, on the same day. I honestly think that it'll provide a sense of-" She halted as she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder, and looked up to see McGee giving her a deliberate look. "-unity." She took an enormous breath and smiled at McGee, who nodded towards Ziva.

"And especially in our line of work, I think celebrating each new year is important," he added. "Shows how far we've come."

Ziva bowed her head in understanding. "I suppose you have a point."

"Plus, it's just another excuse for every American across the United States to party into the wee hours of the morning," Tony added with a grin. At this, the champagne bottle cork took the opportunity to shoot off and pop McGee square in the forehead.

"_Ow, _Tony!" McGee's hand shot to his forehead in pain, but Tony couldn't have been paying less attention as he doubled over in hysterical laughter, clapping a heavy hand on Ziva's shoulder to maintain his balance. Ziva tried to throw a sympathetic smile McGee's way, but she found it difficult to suppress her laughter as he removed his hand and she witnessed his forehead's shade of pink intensify to a bright crimson.

"Tony, that's not funny. I could have lost an eye! You could have blinded me!" McGee touched his forehead delicately, and Tony rolled his eyes.

"Poor McGeek; blinding you would have been _such_ a tragedy. You wouldn't have been able to watch the ball drop! Something you have yet to witness first-hand." McGee just glared back at him indignantly. "Come on, Timmy. It's a cork, it couldn't have hurt that bad."

"It was forceful, Tony! You know how fast a cork shoots out of a pressure-packed wine bottle? _Fast_. Fast enough to make my forehead vaguely resemble a fire hydrant." McGee turned towards Abby, a pleading look in his eye. "Abby, you'll tell me the truth. How bad is it?"

"Oh, Tim." Abby clucked her tongue solemnly, folding her arms. "That baby's a doozy-"

"I'm sorry, doozy?" Ziva cut in.

"It's one of those American words that you'll never really know the real definition of," Tony whispered into her ear. "Like span."

"Ah, right." She nodded towards Abby, "Sorry. Continue."

"Tim…" Abby sighed dramatically, squinting at McGee's forehead like it was some specimen she couldn't quite wrap her head around. "I think we may have to operate."

It was McGee's turn to roll his eyes. "I get injured by this idiot, and _then_ I get made fun of. Nice, guys."

"It is just a little red, McGee." Ziva said apologetically. "Nothing permanent, I assure you."

"Would you like some ice to heal your dignity? Oops, sorry, _forehead_. You know, it's funny how words like that just come out wrong sometimes." Tony snickered at McGee's deadpan.

"No. Thanks."

Ziva cleared her throat uncomfortably, glancing between her companions. "So, where is Gibbs tonight?"

"I don't know. I don't know why he didn't come here!" Abby told her, seeming somewhat offended at Gibbs' lack of presence in the room. "Tony, you _did_ invite him, didn't you?!"

"Of course I did! I am deeply appalled by the suggestion, and your tone, Scuito," Tony declared, clutched a hand to his chest. "He's probably with Miss _Mann_," he said with a grin.

"Or Jenny," McGee suggested.

"Or at home with his boat and a glass of bourbon." Everyone looked at Ziva, who shrugged. "What? He just does not seem like the type to go out and party."

"Doesn't mean he wouldn't like to hang out with a lovely woman on New Years Eve. Just him and her, some wine, Mister Marvin Gay on the stereo system-"

"Please, _someone_ choose a new topic subject!" Abby demanded, squeezing her eyes shut and shielding her ears with her hands. "I really don't like where this one's headed."

Ziva turned to Tony, eyeing the glass bottle still clutched in his hands. "You know, Tony, you went through the trouble of opening that bottle, let us have some champagne." She headed over toward the kitchen area and began opening and closing cabinet doors at random. "Tony, where are your glasses?"

Tony slinked up behind her, placing the bottle down and resting the previously occupied hand on the corner of the marble counter. His left hand reached up to a cabinet above Ziva's head, his body pressed against her back in an effort to reach the glasses near the far end of the shelf. "Right here," he breathed, bringing his hand back down to reveal two wine glasses. He placed them down next to the bottle of champagne, and let his hand fall back to the counter, effectively trapping Ziva between his arms.

She spun around slowly and raised an eyebrow, leaning back and propping her elbows up on the marble slab. Back in the living room, McGee and Abby shared a look as they curiously watched the encounter between their two coworkers silently. Ziva smiled to herself as Tony took the bait, shifting his weight to his arms and pitching forward to close the gap between their torsos, a devilish look in his eye. She leaned in slowly and shifted her head to the side so their cheeks were nearly touching, and whispered in his ear, her breath tickling the sensitive skin. "We are going to need more than two glasses."

Tony shot back, the look on his face resembling one that had just awoken from a pleasant daydream and was brought back to the ugly truth of reality with a sound _thump_. Ziva laughed softly and gently pushed away the hand that was obstructing her path, returning to the living room with a bit of a bounce in her step and a victorious grin spread across her face.

"What was that all about?" McGee inquired, his gaze shifting quickly to Tony, who looked a bit disgruntled as he dug two more glasses out of the elevated kitchen cabinet.

"Oh, nothing. Just Tony being Tony."

"Here are your drinks," Tony said as he came back over to join the group. Ziva grinned slyly at him as she accepted her own, raising her glass. Seeing what she was doing, the other three followed suit.

"To a great, happy new year," McGee toasted, and they all nodded before taking generous sips from their glasses.

"We should put Dick Clark on!" Abby announced cheerfully, taking her glass with her as she moved over towards the couch and plopped down. McGee hurried over to her and sat down on her right, nonchalantly draping an arm around the back of the couch behind her. Tony smiled at Ziva and followed their lead, sitting down on the far end of the couch, leaving a spot for Ziva to sit between himself and McGee.

"Who is Dick Clark?" Ziva inquired, looking between the three of her companions.

"Dick Clark is this really old TV host guy that's been around for millions of years, and he hosts the New Years Eve show in Times Square," Abby quickly responded. "He's awesome. But don't be thrown off by the really raspy voice."

"Millions of years, huh?" Ziva smiled at turned her attention toward the television as Abby commandeered the remote control and switched it on.

"Gosh, they always have the worst music though," Abby said, sounding somewhat disgusted. "Ludacris? Katy Perry? I mean, are you serious? Why can't they have some Brain Matter or something?"

Ziva glanced over at Tony and leaned back, letting him take the reigns on this one. He shifted forward to talk across the lot of them toward Abby. "Abs, there are masses of people there, and although Brain Matter is... great... half the people there probably don't even know who they are. The execs have to comply to the trends."

"I know, but... still." Abby huffed indignantly and leaned back against the couch, and consequently McGee's arm. "Can we at least mute it?"

"What's the fun in that?" McGee asked her. "I mean, at least if they're on we can make fun of how bad they are." He smiled reassuringly at her, and she bit her lip in excitement as she tuned back into the TV program.

Tony, who had been watching the encounter between his two coworkers, cleared his throat awkwardly and turned his attention back to his partner. "Now Ziva, I know you're not American-born, but you've been in this country for about a year and a half. Once you pass the one year mark, you know, you have to follow American customs." He flashed her his hundred-watt smile and suggestively nudged her arm. She gave a look of warning to the elbow in question, raising a skeptical eyebrow at his strange behavior. She didn't become any less confused when she noticed McGee and Abby eyeing her as well, their smiles nearly, but not quite, as big as Tony's.

"I am sorry, but am I missing something? What are you talking about?" Her gaze moved to McGee, then Abby, before snapping back to Tony's smug face. "I do believe I have been following your American customs to a c-"

"Tee," McGee corrected.

"-and yet there seems to be something you three are enjoying keeping from me," she continued somewhat irritably, ignoring the interruption.

Tony chuckled softly, but silenced swiftly once Ziva gave him a look. "Ziva, what did you do last year for New Years?"

"I… stayed home, read a bit, watched a little television, and went to bed," she told him slowly, her confused look not moving from her features.

Tony looked triumphant as he leaned into her, as if he were about to share an earth-shattering secret. "Ziva, we, and not just us-" he motioned to Abby, McGee, and himself, "-but all Americans, have a New Years tradition that you may not be aware of."

"Oh really?" Ziva's eyes widened, feigning eagerness. "And what is that?"

Tony cleared his throat again and leaned it a bit more, lowering his the pitch of his voice as he spoke to her. "When the clock strikes midnight, tradition says you're supposed to kiss someone."

Ziva's eyes automatically shirted towards the television, where, at the bottom of the screen, the countdown had already started. 1 minute, 12 seconds until the new year. She chuckled softly and faced Tony once more. She opened her mouth as if she were going to speak, before moving her head so she was now facing Abby. "Abby." She winked playfully at her coworker. "Would you do me the honors and help me ring in the new year?"

Abby couldn't help but laugh, and she gave Ziva an apologetic look. "Sorry Ziva, but I already promised McGee."

"Oh damn." Ziva glanced back at Tony, still grinning. "I guess you are the only one left, then."

He smirked, leaning in once again until her face was inches away from his own, his arm right arm resting on the back cushion of the couch, behind Ziva. "Guess so."

"Guys, you have to count down with us!" Abby squealed excitedly, pointing at the glowing numbers descending on the television.

"Ten! Nine! Eight!"

Ziva felt her pulse quicken, her heartbeat sounding in her ears so loudly that she could have sworn Tony heard it too, even over the screams of the ecstatic crowd.

"Seven! Six!"

Tony turned his attention away from party in Times Square and looked back at his partner, who met his gaze with the same eagerness he didn't bother to attempt to hide.

"Five! Four! Three!"

They stared, Tony's hazel eyes not once wavering from her deep chestnut ones. Time seemed to slow down to a torturous pace, dragging out the moment that they both waited so eagerly for.

"Two!"

Tony swallowed as he watched Ziva's lips part slightly, her tongue shooting out to unconsciously wet her bottom lip in anticipation. He willed himself not to blink as his fervent gaze moved back up to her eyes.

"One!"

Ziva's eyelids slid shut, the scene of what was about to happen as she envisioned it running through her head as she let her guard down for one of the only times in her life.

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!"

Ziva broke out in a wide grin and leaned in slightly, her hands trembling. But her eyes shot open quickly as she felt Tony's lips, not own her own as she imagined, but on her cheek. She pulled back, her eyes no longer full of desire, but of confusion and shock. She noticed his expression held a look of someone who was holding back, someone who looked moderately disappointed.

"That is it?" she heard herself say, almost not recognizing her breathy, pleading voice.

"What? Was that not enough?" he challenged.

Ziva sighed. "It was a bit… anticlimactic." She looked over to McGee and Abby, who hadn't stopped celebrating the new year. "Compared to that."

Tony turned around curiously and his jaw dropped at his two coworkers' current situation. They were quite literally entangled in each other, and didn't look like they were about to let go any time soon.

"You were expecting something like that?" He jabbed his thumb over his shoulder, then raised an eyebrow at Ziva.

"I was expecting something more than a peck on the cheek, to be quite honest." She tilted her head slightly, the corner of her lips upturning as Tony comprehended what she said. He shifted his weight to his right arm, inching forward and planting his left hand on the seat cushion, next to Ziva's thigh.

"Just say the word, and your wish is my command," he whispered, keeping enough distance between them to keep her entire face in his vision.

She opened her mouth to speak, but he didn't wait for her response before he closed the space between them and captured her lips in his own, reveling in the feeling he hadn't experienced for over a year. His hand moved to the back of her head and his fingers entangled themselves in her hair, the weight of his body shifting to his hand and pushing Ziva against the arm of the couch. Her own hands found their way to his shoulders, pulling him closer to her as she invitingly opened her mouth to let his tongue gain entrance. A few moments later they broke apart, each panting heavily and struggling to keep the giddy smiles off their faces. They heard someone clear their throat, and looked to the other side of the couch at Abby and McGee, who had apparently stopped in enough time to witness the encounter. Abby was grinning widely and McGee expectantly crossed his arms.

"Uh…" Tony pulled at the collar of his shirt uncomfortably, glancing first at Ziva then back at McGee. "Sorry."

"Don't be," McGee told him coolly, letting a small, telling smile grace his features.

"Took you long enough," Abby said with a laugh, and they couldn't help but chuckle along with her.

"Same goes to you two," Ziva replied, raising an eyebrow knowingly.

"Heh. Well… Happy New Year."

Tony grinned at Ziva, letting his arm comfortably drape over her shoulders. "Happy New Year indeed."

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**Review please!**


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